Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Sleepless Nights over Harringay School
Worried: Katy Mendes is concerned that her daughter Holly will not get a place at South
Harringay School (Picture © Evening Standard)
The Evening Standard carried a story today about the fears of London's parents about a shortfall in primary school places.
More than 7,000 extra primary school places are being created in London this year but experts admit there is an “enormous challenge” to find enough space for all the children needing places.
Included in the article is the picture above and the following:
Katy Mendes, pictured above, who lives less than 100 metres from her first-choice school, South Harringay Junior, is worried her three-year-old daughter Holly will not get a place because the school is so heavily over-subscribed.
“I can’t remember being this nervous for a very long time,” she said. “I’m having sleepless nights. There’s a significant shortage of school places in inner-city London — the demand for good schools is so high.”
Full article on the Evening Standard website.
Tags for Forum Posts: education, school admissions, schools, south harringay school
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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Renting rooms to get an address near a favoured school?
I've heard rumours about this from time to time. About ten years ago I was told about an address where - allegedly - the owner was charging for "notionally" renting a room or flat on the basis that the tenant wouldn't actually live there, but simply use the address to apply to a school.
I and a former councillor made some fruitless inquiries about this. Including asking Haringey's School Admissions about what I called Flats of Convenience. But they couldn't tell us anything.
Many people may have mixed feelings about these attempts to "game" the system. Everyone wants to do the best for their own children. And there are a few schools where short of a half-a-million to buy a house nearby, the only legitimate option seems to be a moving to a bender outside the school gates.
But it's also important that the criteria for all school admissions should be fair and transparent and applied honestly and accurately.
(Tottenham Hale ward councillor)
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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on
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For all of you upwardly mobile but locationally unfortunate young parents, or parents of young children with voracious South Harringay School aspirations, the answer is obvious. The stretch of Wightman Road from Warham to Burgoyne is in need of some regeneration and new blood. There are a number of absentee landlords who could hardly object to being bought out if your price is right. Residents would, of course, also be open to offers. We have added a new SHS Catchment Premium of £250K - £400 - variable if there are any siblings or planned siblings. You will see from Hugh's catchment circles on page 2 that a house on this stretch (east or west) will assure your child/ren of place/s at SHS (Jnr or Infants) as your first choice. We look forward to hearing from you.
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Though St John Vianney is a faith school so additional criteria apply, it's still oversubscribed by active Church goers and you should see the cluster of for sale and for let signs right opposite the school entrance!
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Unfortunately none of these things are new.
Renting a house to get into Fortismere has happended for years.
Banning competitive sports goes in and out of fashion depending on whether the school wants to deal with what it teaches the child. Such a shame competition is real, life is real and kids need to know about competition and how to deal with any disappointments there might be.
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I'm unclear about the point you're making, Frizzy. Are you thinking of people who rent a house and actually live there? Or were you referring to someone who rents a room or a house temporarily, doesn't live there, but pretends they do when applying to a school, or the Local Education Authority?
Isn't that simply dishonesty?
And I didn't really follow your analogy with competitive sport. That cheating school admission rules is just another sort of competition? Or perhaps I've completely misunderstood your point?
And how would you feel about, say, a local councillor who lied about their address?
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Sorry for any confusion this is the first time I have actually commented on this forum. I thought I was replying to a comment by Ian which would have made my reply clearer. You also commented on his post.
My comment about renting a house just to get into a school was just that. It’s not new. It is just that now it is affecting junior and infants schools as well as secondary schools. You seem to imply that I agree with this but I made no comment as such. Just for the record I think it wrong and unfair. I think that it is time Haringey employed good teachers at all schools, so parents don’t have to worry about what school they get and everyone can then go to a school near home.
My comment with regard to competition in schools is also in response to Ian’s comment that some schools do not condone or encourage any form of competition which is not realistic for our future adults.
I hope this is now makes some sense
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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Frizzy, easily done. I thinks lots of people (including me, do the same). The best thing to do is to click "Reply" directly below the comment you're responding to. That helps, but even then, when a thread is busy, it's sometimes easy to mistake exactly which comment someone's referring to. It's a bit like a busy room; voices get lost, lines crossed.
Far be it from me to assume that you need me to guide you on the use of social media in general, but with HoL in particular, to take a belt and braces approach, you can also use the name of the person you're replying to, as you might in a 'real world' social situation.
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Thanks, Frizzy, I get it now. Apologies for not reading back through the thread to understand the context to your points.
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Permalink Reply by Ian on
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I suppose the laws of unintended consequences have played out with the introduction of the stats scoring system into the public domain that is leading to additional segregation in society. The conclusion of these unintended social engineering is yet to be fully realised. Academic achievement and social segregation that was once the perserve of the very elite has become mainstream amongst the growing middle class. I would love to radically shake up this whole catchment area and stats system to allow % of people outside of the catchment area entrance into the so called top schools. A bit of mix up to reflect the many types of diversity that exist would not be a bad thing for the young people of tomorrow going to some of these schools.
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Permalink Reply by Chestnuts Head on
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There is an amazing pressure on primary school places this year - greater than in previous years due to rising birth rate. All primary school catchments have reduced considerably this year. The biggest pull on places is often determined by the number of siblings needing places which is always hard if you are looking for a school place for your first child. As the head teacher of chestnuts I'm obviously concerned that Liz has not been allocated her first choice school (south Harringay infants) and feels disappointed by being offered chestnuts. My advice would be to accept the place you have been offered but remain on the waiting list of your first choice school. The danger of not accepting the place you have been offered at chestnuts is that you could end up with no school place at all - which would be much worse. I am more than happy to meet Liz to try and address her concerns and hopefully offer some reassurances.
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Permalink Reply by NIck and Lizzy on
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Hi there
Thanks for taking the time to become involved in this debate.
My comments above reflected my initial response to our application result on Wednesday (an emotional day for all concerned I think) and these feelings have already changed. I was also making a more general comment about the lack of certainty that parents face when they don't get their first choice, or in fact any of their choices of school. I was thinking of parents all over London.
As for us personally, after the original shock, we now feel that we are not only exceedingly lucky to have been offered our second choice, we are actively looking forward to our daughter attending Chesnuts specifically (we have accepted our place.) We have met a few other parents in the area whose children attend the school, a PSA member responded warmly to my forum comment above, and generally, all the feedback we have heard about the school is glowing. We also pass the school regularly on the way to the park and have noticed with excitement the wildflower garden at the front, the well equipped playground etc.
Its extremely kind of you to offer to take the time to meet with me and address our concerns, but I don't feel we have any particular concerns at this time. We also have received the letter sent out to all prospective parents inviting us to the evening in May, which we are looking forward to attending. I am sure any questions that may come up will be addressed then.
Best wishes
Liz
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